 | Forest buds, from the woods of Maine |  |
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THE UNBIDDEN GUEST.
Mirth and music are here to-night,
Red lips murmur and bright eyes glance,
Forms of beauty with motion light
Float and whirl in the dizzy dance.
Red lips murmur and bright eyes glance,
Forms of beauty with motion light
Float and whirl in the dizzy dance.
Up and down in a living stream
Winds the waltz like a wreath of flowers,
Rich robes rustle and white arms gleam,
Light feet fall like the beat of showers.
Winds the waltz like a wreath of flowers,
Rich robes rustle and white arms gleam,
Light feet fall like the beat of showers.
Yonder, there where the shadow lies,
Pale and earnest a face appears,
Gazing at me with steady eyes,
Eyes whose brightness is that of tears.
Pale and earnest a face appears,
Gazing at me with steady eyes,
Eyes whose brightness is that of tears.
See ye, gay ones, the pale sad face,
Gazing forth from the shadow there?
Can it be that the form I trace
Is no other than empty air?
Gazing forth from the shadow there?
Can it be that the form I trace
Is no other than empty air?
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Lightly, brightly, the dance whirls by,
Pausing not where the shadow lies
Dim and silent,—and only I
See the face with the haunting eyes.
Pausing not where the shadow lies
Dim and silent,—and only I
See the face with the haunting eyes.
Sweet the calm on the brow that lies,
Sweet the smile on the silent lips,
Still and deep are the shadowy eyes,
Like a lake where the lily dips.
Sweet the smile on the silent lips,
Still and deep are the shadowy eyes,
Like a lake where the lily dips.
“Guest unbidden, why haunt me so?
All the day are my thoughts of thee,
All the night does thy memory flow
Over my soul like a whelming sea!
All the day are my thoughts of thee,
All the night does thy memory flow
Over my soul like a whelming sea!
“Ever into my dim lone room
Comest thou nightly, with even's star,—
Why dost thou come where light and bloom,
Beauty and love and gladness are?”
Comest thou nightly, with even's star,—
Why dost thou come where light and bloom,
Beauty and love and gladness are?”
Clasping closely my passive hands,
Comes the presence and walks with me,—
In and out with the joyous bands
Pass together the bond and free.
Comes the presence and walks with me,—
In and out with the joyous bands
Pass together the bond and free.
And as we wander to and fro
Under the lamp-light's searching shine,
Little the eyes which see me, know
Spirit fingers are clasping mine!
Under the lamp-light's searching shine,
Little the eyes which see me, know
Spirit fingers are clasping mine!
| Forest buds, from the woods of Maine | |